Meditation is the foundation of all spiritual practices and traditions.  The practices of giving gentle and loving attention to this present moment through contemplative, concentrative, or mindfulness techniques all result in beneficial changes in consciousness and in overall health. Through meditative practices we learn to dis-identify with our time-based thoughts and feelings and instead learn to   simply "Be". In this state, our minds open up. We learn not to judge our experiences. We gradually understand that our thoughts and feelings alone do not define us.  We begin to experience greater peace, love, and the simple joy of existence. We are more conscious of the miraculous wonder of being alive. We develop a deeper knowing, or intuition, of what is true and right for us in each moment. And, as we grow in meditation, we begin to act out of that deeper knowing rather than in response to what we happen to be thinking and feeling. 

I personally discovered meditation when I was in medical school at Stanford University in 1979. My own practice has brought about both a change in consciousness for me and has also influenced my work with my patients. It has taught me to not take my thoughts quite so seriously and not be quite so judgmental (or at least to notice when my mind does judge!).  I've gradually learned to be more present more of the time throughout the day. This gives a directness and clarity to my awareness. I've come to see the mind as a tool that I use, rather than allowing my mind to use me. My practice serves as a spring of energy that serves to renew and refresh each day.

I regularly teach meditative exercises to my patients and encourage them to incorporate a meditative practice into their daily lives. I have seen countless patients benefit medically from these efforts as they gradually develop a greater sense of peace, equanimity, and perspective in their lives. Over and over again, I've observed that their treatment just seem to go better when my patients make the effort on a daily basis to meditate. Often, problems and conflicts just seem to dissolve away in the stillness that accompanies awareness.

My patients tell me they are happier and more loving toward others - and they typically find their health improves along with their mood. As with any major lifestyle change I recommend to my patients, the challenge lies in guiding and motivating people to develop the discipline of a regular spiritual practice. For many people, this simply goes against the grain of their busy, activity-focused lives. And that, of course, is exactly the point!

Ours is a time of great paradox. We live in a world of astounding material abundance and yet a time of great peril - both a consequence of the human mind. Despite our material comforts, our many pleasures, and our increased longevity, people on the whole seem no happier than they were two hundred years ago. Perhaps happiness and wellbeing spring from a wisdom that lies beyond and beneath the fruits of the mind, a wisdom that can only be tapped though a practice of meditation. Our culture is currently out of balance, with too much activity and not enough solitude and stillness-the ground out of which wisdom grows.

This book addresses not only meditation, but also the special needs of women pursuing a meditative practice. Women have special gifts and unique psychological attributes. As a rule, women are more connected than men to the experience of Being and to their emotions.

Women also face special challenges as well. The hormonal shifts in a woman's body create special physical and emotional states. Women, more often than men, face the challenge of being the primary caregiver in the family while also pursuing a career.

I have known Hari Kaur Khalsa for a number of years. Her own practice of meditation, combined with her gifts for writing and teaching, make her uniquely qualified to write this book. Here she shares with you her wisdom and the benefits of the practice she has touched so many lives with.

May this book be a resource to change the lives of women looking to enhance their happiness and wellbeing through the practice of meditation.

- Michael McGee, MD